Use of Ridges

[Dave Bourgeois]

I had the opportunity to play Engineers CC on Long Island a while ago, and while there my host made it a point to explain how the holes were routed along the ridges and not just up and down them.  The green sites on many of the holes took great advantage of the terrain and mimicked  the movement in the ridges.  Although the greens had a ton of movement I remember saying I liked them because they were almost low profile. I suppose I felt this way because of how they blended/moved with the terrain. 

I've played a number of hilly courses that did have defined ridges, but have  not noticed similar character in the greens. I wonder if this is because greens like Engineers would be a nightmare on public courses, or if sometimes greens just get overbuilt? 

What are other examples of courses that take advantage of ridge lines in the terrain to add to the complexity in the green sites?  I am not talking about rolling or rumpled terrain, but larger land forms.

I have not played it, but would Baltusrol Upper fit this description?

[Tommy Williamsen]

Engineers is almost one of a kind.  I really liked the routing.  As for Baltusrol Upper, the first five or six holes are really affected by the mountain and the slope is considerable both on the greens and on the fairways.  Get above the hole and three putts are standard.

[wsmorrison]

Flynn's use of ridges is particularly interesting in his par 3s.  Consider the par 3 11th at Shinnecock Hills for one of the great examples of all ridge site greens.  He could have placed a green on other ridge lines further down the 12th fairway, and teed off from the ridge where the 10th green sat,  but instead placed a short par 3 tee down the hill from the 10th green and gave us one of the great par 3s in golf and also allowed one of the neatest fairways in golf, the 12th played over a series of ridges.

[J_ Crisham]

Beverly CC in Chicago makes great usage of a single ridgeline that bisects the front 9. It allows for a very challenging green placement on #5 which is by most accounts one of the more difficult par 4's in Chicago. The ridge allows a fine tee placement for the downhill par 3 6th. The tee shot on 7 is a forced carry of some 220 yds into a prevailing wind. I guesstimate the ridge to be some 30 feet in heigth although on 5 it seems greater. A great example of Donald Ross's mastery. Three very demanding holes in my opinion .